


Home

by AlexiHollis



Series: Moving [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Cute, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, I wrote this in the middle of the night, Light Angst, i can't believe i finished it, not romantic - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-08 19:51:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11088732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexiHollis/pseuds/AlexiHollis
Summary: Garnet gets roped into fostering a child abuse victim, Peridot.ORGarnet acts as Peridot's big sister/mom and I died from cuteness





	Home

“No.”

Pearl blinked at Garnet, somewhat stunned. She wasn’t even halfway through with what she had to say.

“All I said was that I was just put in charge of a new-”

“Yes, but I know exactly what you’re going to ask next and the answer is no.” Garnet barely spared Pearl a glance as she carried a cup of tea to the kitchen table, placing it in front of Pearl and sitting down to drink her coffee.

“She has nowhere to go.”

“Why don’t you take her?” Garnet asked, causing Pearl to glare. Garnet knew the answer, after Rose passed away, Pearl and Greg were having trouble raising baby Steven on their own, even if they wouldn’t admit it. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but I see how much Jasper struggles with Amethyst.”

“It wouldn’t be for very long! Just a few weeks, until I can find a more suitable home. She needs to get out of that house.” Pearl’s eyes were wide, begging.

Garnet rubbed her forehead to ward off the headache she already felt forming, “I don’t have time for a kid…”

“I can still help,” Pearl said. “So can Jasper! Peridot’s close to Amethyst’s age, only a bit younger.”

“You have Steven to think about,” Garnet reminded. “He’s barely three. Not to mention, Jasper’s swamped trying to juggle her job, school and Amethyst.”

“Garnet, you have to know if I had another option, I’d use it, but right now it’s either you or the group home.”

Group homes weren’t inherently bad, but Pearl was intimately familiar with the one located just outside of Beach City. It was crowded, made for around thirty kids, yet regularly housed at least forty. The staff and volunteers were kind yet overworked. The biggest issue, though, was that Pearl hadn’t known a single child to be adopted or even fostered out of the Beach City home.

“You have a whole book of foster parents, why don’t you look at them?”

“You think I haven’t?” Pearl’s laugh was tired and stressed. “I explain the situation and, immediately, it’s ‘oh, I’m sorry, I just remembered I’m too full’ or ‘I’d love to, but I don’t think she’s the best fit for the kids I already have’ or ‘I’m not sure I want _that_ sort of kid in my house’.”

Garnet tilted her head to the side, “What do you mean?”

“She has a lot of emotional baggage…”

“Don’t they all?”

“More than average. She’s been emotionally and, I believe, physically abused.”

“If she’s being abused, why is she still in that house?”

“I can’t prove it and she won’t admit it. She doesn’t even know she’s getting taken out of the house yet,” Pearl explained. “You know my friend, Sheena, the elementary school counselor?”

“Yea…”

“Peridot has been talking to her since she was in third grade about bullying.” Garnet’s eyebrows shot into her hairline. Pearl winced. “Sheena’s been suspecting something wasn’t right with her home life for a while now. Yesterday, Sheena asked why Peridot seemed so tired. According to Peridot, she’d had to pick up the night shift at her family’s store and hadn’t gotten any sleep.” At Garnet’s incredulous look, Pearl hastily continued, “She’s nine, it’s technically cause for investigation.”

“Investigation, yes, a complete removal?” Garnet shook her head. “A judge signed off on this?”

“Upon seeing Sheena’s notes, yes,” Pearl said. “We’re just lucky Beach City Elementary is as small as it is for Sheena to be as thorough with Peridot as she’s been.”

“Why not give her to Sheena, then?”

“Sheena isn’t a certified foster parent.”

“But I am.” Pearl nodded. “Pearl, I only did that to get Rose off my back about it! You said I’d never actually have to take in a kid.”

“I know what I said, but I need you to do this.” Garnet began to shake her head again, “Please. For me.”

“I can’t believe-Fine. Whatever, she can stay in the guest room, but this isn’t permanent.”

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” Pearl squealed practically vaulting across the table to hug Garnet, who quickly moved her coffee out of the way to accept the strained hug.

When Pearl settled back down, Garnet laughed lowly, sipping her coffee, “The things I do for you.”  
Pearl began getting up, gathering her things. “This will be great! Okay, I have a lot of paperwork to do before tomorrow. You will be home all of tomorrow, right?”

“I don’t usually do much on Saturdays.”

“Perfect! Oh, make sure you have a fully stocked fridge! And put away any…questionable reading material. Do all of your fire alarms work?”

“Yes.”

“And you have an alarm system?”

“Pearl, both of my mothers are paranoid, of course I have an alarm system.”

“Just checking! Alright, you should be good to go. Check your guest room, I’m pretty sure Jasper was the last one to sleep in there and she may have left something.” Garnet rolled her eyes at that. Jasper had indeed left something the last time she’d slept over and that something had happened to be her little sister. It had only happened three weeks ago.

“Don’t you have paperwork?”

“Yes! Yes, I do! Thank you so much for doing this for me, I’ll make it up to you.”

“You better!” Garnet called out as Pearl shut the door behind her. “You really better.”

* * *

 

Peridot hated Saturdays. She hated Sundays, too. Those were the only days of the week she couldn’t escape. Monday through Friday, she was expected to study in the school’s library, but her parents demanded she stay home during the weekend.

This particular Saturday, Peridot laid in her bed as still as possible. It was closing in on ten AM and if she didn’t get up soon, her father would barge in to demand a reason for her laziness. She just couldn’t move, though. That was always the issue. She felt frozen to her bed, because if she moved, the day began and if the day began, so did the game. The game of tiptoeing around her parents and figuring out their mood. If they were in a good mood, her mother may give her some toast and orange juice while her father asked about her latest school assignments (hopefully, not English, because that wasn’t her strong suit and always managed to put him in a bad mood). If they were in a bad mood…due to the changing nature of them, more observation was needed, but Peridot hated those observations. They usually hurt.

Her room was on the second floor with a window facing out into the backyard she was forbidden from entering unless serving a punishment. Peridot’s stay at home mother found great fulfillment in keeping their garden pristine, filled with only the most beautiful flowers she could find. One of Peridot’s greatest blunders came in fourth grade when she asked why her mother planted such useless plants and not things like fruits and vegetables (she’d recently read a book on the history of gardens, beginning with the French royalty as a show of power). Though Peridot couldn’t remember her mother’s exact response, she could remember the sting of her wedding ring on her cheek. Peridot kept her blinds closed after that.

In between the heat of the morning and Peridot’s own tenseness, she could faintly hear the sound of the doorbell. The sound made her sit up immediately. There was a strict “no visitors” policy on the Amarillo household, even on weekends. Quickly and quietly, sticking close to her furniture to avoid the creaky floorboards, Peridot got ready, throwing on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt lying on the floor of her closet. She hadn’t had much time to do laundry lately.

Walking close to the railing, she tiptoed down the stairs to peek into the living room. Just in the doorway, held open by her father, stood Miss Sheena, who Peridot recognized from school, and a tall, thin woman she didn’t. Behind the women stood a few police officers.

“I don’t know who the _hell_ you think you are!” Her father spat at the women. “You don’t have any right to take my daughter from me!”

“Mr. Amarillo, your daughter is too young to be working in your store; it's in direct violation of Code 3-05 of the Child Labor Laws,” the tall woman said. “We also have a warrant to search your house, so if you would please call her down and step aside…”

Her father stepped aside, looking up the staircase to see her.

“Get down here,” he barked.

Shoulders hunched, Peridot obeyed, slinking down the steps. A large hand grabbed the back of her neck roughly as he leaned down to whisper, “What the hell did you tell them, girl?”

“N-nothing,” Peridot felt tears stinging at the corners of her eyes.

He gestured to the police officers entering the house, “Does this _look_ like nothing to you?! Are you that stupid?”

“That’s quite enough, Mr. Amarillo,” Miss Sheena intervened, pulling Peridot towards her and away from her father. “We’ll be taking Peridot, now.”

“Where do I pick her up from when they don’t find anything?” Her father demanded. “I do have a business to run, you know!”

“We’ll contact you,” Miss Sheena said glaring at the aggravating man as she put a protective arm around Peridot. Against her better judgement, Peridot leaned into Miss Sheena. “Is it alright with you if she goes upstairs to get some of her things?”

Her father scoffed at her, “Seriously? She’ll be back by tonight, she isn’t going to need anything.”

“And if she isn’t?” Sheena challenged.

“I paid for all of that shit, it’s _my_ property.” He snarled.

Miss Sheena blinked, “All right, then. Come on, Peridot.” Her arm stayed around Peridot’s shoulders all the way to a small police car with a very large woman inside. The counselor opened the back door for Peridot, allowing her to slide inside before closing the door.

The police officer turned to look at Peridot, showing off a head of multicolored dreads and a kind smile, “Hey, there! I’m Bismuth, you’re Peridot, right?”

Peridot nodded. A large hand was thrust at her.

“Nice to meet ya!”

“Nice to meet you, too, ma’am,” Peridot said hesitantly as she gave Officer Bismuth her hand, rather tiny in comparison.

“Ma’am?” Officer Bismuth laughed, loud and confident. “Woo, I think we’re gonna get along just fine, kid!”

* * *

 

Garnet spent the whole day at home and alone, filled with a nervous energy that wouldn’t go away. Pearl said they’d go to the house around ten o’clock, yet as three began to approach, there was radio silence from her end. She’d been given clear instructions not to contact Pearl or Bismuth, who was to be one of the lead detectives on the case. Pearl would be too busy searching the house to answer her phone while Bismuth was to be planted in the car with Peridot in hopes of getting her to talk about the possible abuse she’d received at the hands of her parents. They couldn’t take Peridot off the property until they found physical evidence of abuse or neglect.

Finally, she heard the tell-tale sound of a car coming up her driveway, but she waited until she heard a knock on the door. There on her front step was Pearl with a child Garnet was having a hard time believing was nine; she was so small.

“Peridot, this is Garnet. Garnet, Peridot.” The girl’s eyes met Garnet’s for a split second before returning to the tattered remnants of shoes on her feet. Garnet turned her attention back to Pearl who laughed nervously, “She’s a little shy.”

Garnet expected some response from the girl, but nothing came. She just stood there, staring at her feet.

“Come in,” Garnet backed up to leave room for the two to walk inside. Then, she noticed Peridot wasn’t carrying any sort of bag. “Where’s your stuff?” Peridot didn’t say anything, so she turned to Pearl.

“Her father was a bit…reluctant during the process,” Pearl explained. “Would you like to show her to her new room, Garnet?”

“Sure, follow me,” Garnet started down the hallway, but had to look behind her when she didn’t hear footsteps. Unlike what she was suspecting, Pearl was still in the living room, but Peridot was right behind her. As they walked up the stairs, Garnet began explaining, “This used to be my guest room, but it’s yours for now. My room is just down the hall.” She opened the door. Garnet would admit it wasn’t near the room she’d had as a child, but it was a warm bed in a safe house. “This is it.”

Peridot looked around the room, “It’s nice.” After a moment, “I’m sure you’d be a great foster mom, but I don’t belong here.”

Garnet looked over the tiny girl, from the bruise peeking out under the collar of the girl’s shirt to the bags underneath her eyes. “You’re tired, would you like time to rest before dinner?”

The girl seemed almost offended, “I’m fine!”

“You look exhausted.”

“I-It’s been a rough day!”

“Understandable.”

“S-So it makes sense that I’m tired!”

“Absolutely.”

“And I’m gonna go take a nap!”

“All right, then.”

“Okay!”

“Great.”

“I-I will see you at dinner!”

The door was shut and Garnet stared at the white paint for a moment. This would definitely be an interesting experience to say the least.

Heading back downstairs, she found Pearl looking at the numerous pictures she had on the walls: mostly her friends with some pictures of her moms and one picture of her mom and her aunts in their army uniforms. When Pearl noticed Garnet, she smiled awkwardly before noticing Peridot wasn’t around.

“Where’s Peridot?”

“Sleeping,” Garnet shrugged. “She said she wasn’t tired, but needs a nap. It was an interesting discussion.”

“Bismuth said she was very quiet in the car, this is improvement!” Pearl promised. “Sheena says she’s very smart, just has a bit of difficulty vocalizing.”

“Mmhmm,” Garnet appeared unimpressed. “This isn’t permanent, Pearl. You need to find a better place for her.”

“I’m working on it,” Garnet wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. “I am!”

“Pearl…”

“I know, I know! Just give me two weeks, okay?”

“Two weeks?”

“Two weeks.”

Garnet stood at the kitchen sink, stepping back as hot water vapor billowed out of the draining pasta. Scooping out the noodles into two separate dishes, she contemplated the tomato sauce on the stove. Pearl hadn’t said anything about allergies, but…

Sighing, she walked up the stairs to Peridot’s new room. She hadn’t wanted to wake the girl until the absolute last minute, but she didn’t want to accidentally poison her either. Garnet knocked on the door as she opened it.

“Dinner's almost ready.” She stopped dead in her tracks.

Peridot sat on the corner of her bed that backed into the corner of the room, her legs tucked under her chin, sniffling.

Burying her face into her kneecaps, she turned away from Garnet, “Go away.”

Garnet took a step into the room, “Peri-”

“I said, go away!”

Garnet walked closer to the bed, sitting on the edge. “I only want to help.”

“I don’t need help!” Peridot sniffed again before blubbering out, “I just w-want to go home!”

“I know you do.” Garnet sighed, what had she gotten herself into? “Home isn’t the best place for you right now.”

“How would you know that?” Peridot demanded. “You’ve never been to my house! You’ve never met my parents! They love me!” Quieter and to herself, “they love me.”

“I’m sure they do love you,” Garnet placated, “but there’s just somethings Pearl and Miss Sheena have to check on before you can go back.”

Peridot looked up, resting her chin on her knees, her eyes, covered by large round glasses, rimmed with red, “Like what?”

“You can’t be working in your family’s shop until you’re older for one.” No one followed that rule for family businesses, but nevertheless it was the law. “The larger issue is you working during the night.”

“It isn’t really that bad,” Peridot protested. “And it’s only because I didn’t do the hours I was supposed to that week!” Her agitated movements allowed the too big t-shirt to slip further down her shoulder, revealing the rest of the ugly bruise Garnet saw bits of earlier in the afternoon. It was an ugly, large thing roughly the size of a softball and resting on the solid bone connecting her shoulder and collar bone. Garnet said nothing, but reached over and adjusted the shirt, Peridot freezing at Garnet’s movements.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” she repeated as she stood up. “We’re having spaghetti. You don’t have any allergies, right?”

Peridot hesitated, “I think the doctor said I shouldn’t eat gluten, but my dad says that’s just the doctor trying to get money.”

Garnet kept her alarm hidden, casually asking, “Did the doctor say you had celiac disease?”

Peridot shrugged, “I don’t know. I haven’t been to the doctor in a while.” She quickly amended herself, “I mean, there hasn’t been a reason, I haven’t been sick!”

“We aren’t going to be having spaghetti until the next time you see the doctor, then,” Garnet decided. She’d need to get her in to see a doctor, soon, especially if she had untreated celiac disease. Pearl would know which doctor Peridot should go to, she’d call her in the morning. “How do you like your salad?”

“You already made the spaghetti, I can eat that. I like spaghetti,” Peridot lied. She liked the taste of it, sure, but she didn’t like the way it made her feel sick right after. Her mom always said she was being dramatic when she started crying over the nausea and cramping. Her dad said she was being weak and gullible, letting the doctors convince her of lies.

“I am not going to feed you something that will make you sick.”

So salad it was. Garnet packed the spaghetti and sauce into Tupperware containers for later, in case Peridot could eat it, then quickly made a simple salad. She didn’t have any other gluten-free items in the house and was hoping she’d maybe accidentally bought some sort of gluten-free food or else Peridot would be eating vegetables until Garnet could get her in to see a doctor.

Dinner was mostly smooth, otherwise. When Garnet put the plate in front of the antsy girl, who’d been asking what she could do to help since she’d trudged down the stairs, the food was gone in almost seconds. However, when Garnet went to give her more, Peridot denied being hungry. Other than that, she was virtually silent, though her eyes were still red.

After dinner, Garnet let Peridot help her clean the dishes, having her dry while she washed, but Peridot was too short to be of any help putting them away. In the back of her mind, Garnet made a note to pick up a step stool. Just for the two weeks Peridot was in her house, of course, because the girl couldn’t even get a water glass on her own.

Garnet went into the living room and turned on the TV, fully expecting Peridot to go back to her room. Instead, she hung around the intersection between the kitchen, living room and staircase.

“Do you want to watch TV with me?” Garnet asked eventually.

Peridot didn’t say anything, just nodded and scurried into the room, taking a seat on the leather chair next to the couch Garnet was sitting in. They watched sitcoms until late at night, the silence not entirely comfortable, but not entirely uncomfortable either. It was definitely less awkward than the conversation in the room had gone, but not by that much.

“I think it’s time for bed,” Garnet stifled a yawn as she turned off the TV, but when she turned to Peridot, she found her asleep on the chair.

With a sigh, Garnet stood up and picked Peridot off the couch, slightly shocked at how light she was. She hadn’t been expecting her to be heavy, not at all, but it was as if she was carrying a little more than her weekly load of laundry. Into the room they went and Garnet felt a pang of annoyance at knowing Peridot would have to sleep in jeans and a t-shirt, neither of which were too comfortable. As she went to turn the light off, she turned to look at the sleeping girl, then closed the door.

* * *

 

“She hasn’t seen a doctor in _how long?!_ ” Pearl shrieked as Garnet searched her pantry for something gluten free to feed Peridot.

“I’m not sure, but a while,” Garnet said, turning over the box of cereal in her hand, before sighing. Gluten. “Look, I just need to know if she’s actually going to be staying here and what doctor to call to make an appointment.”

“Oh, she’s definitely not going home if that’s what you’re asking,” Pearl laughed darkly, accompanied by the rustling of papers. Garnet stopped what she was doing to pay more attention. “That bastard she calls a father confessed everything he did to abuse her, called them “punishments”. Obviously a ploy by his lawyer to convince a jury he didn’t know what he was doing was wrong. If it works, all he and his wife would have to do is take a couple parenting classes and they’d get Peridot right back. There’s no way in hell he doesn’t know beating his own daughter is wrong, I refuse to believe it.”

“Pearl, the doctor.”

“I know, I know. It says that she saw Dr. Maheswaran regularly when she was younger. Oh, that’s Connie’s mom! I can give her a call for you, set up an appointment.”

“I can do it. Thanks, Pearl.”

“You’re welcome. How’s Peridot doing?”

Garnet leaned out the pantry, but there was still no sign of the girl. “Still sleeping, I think.”

“Well, it’s only seven AM and she’s nine. What time did you wake up on weekends when you were that age?”

“My mom would take me on a run at six every day.”

“Every day?”

“Yeah, it was bonding time when she was home.” Garnet had fond memories of those runs, even if she hadn’t necessarily kept it up after she moved out.

“That’s sweet. According to Jasper, Amethyst won’t willingly get out of bed until eleven, so who knows.”

“Mmhmm.” Garnet squinted at the pack of granola in her hand. She did have some yogurt in the fridge… “Do you happen to know if granola is gluten free?”

“As long as you’re not paranoid about cross contamination, it should be safe.” Pearl said after a quick search of the internet. “This site says the cross contamination is so little, people with celiac should be safe.”

“Great. I was worried I’d be force feeding the kids fruits and vegetables until the doctor’s appointment.”

Pearl laughed, “She could just be messing with you. Sheena says she loves pranks.”

Garnet thought about the way Peridot acted, the fear and sadness she could feel radiating from the girl. She could barely imagine her happy, let alone energetic enough to try and prank her. “I don’t think she is.”

“…Garnet, I am looking for someone else, I know this is a lot to put on you so soon, but thank you for taking this so seriously. You don’t even know the amount of foster parents… _parents_ I want to just shake sometimes…”

“If I’m going to do this, I might as well do it well.” She heard the top of her staircase creak. “I think she’s awake, I’ll talk to you later, Pearl.”

“Good bye, Garnet.”

Hanging up her cell phone and slipping it into her back pocket, she turned to see Peridot awkwardly standing on the last step, her hands clasped in front of her chest.

“Hello,” Garnet said after a few moments.

“Hi.”

Garnet lifted up the pack of granola, “How do you feel about granola and yogurt?”

Peridot blinked at her, as if she couldn’t understand what Garnet just said. “For what?”

“For breakfast.”

“…but I just ate last night?”

Garnet felt her stomach drop. “Yes, so did I, but now it is morning and we eat again.” She opened the fridge and pulled out the tub of yogurt, refraining from slamming the door shut.

“But I caused you trouble!” Peridot protested. “I yelled at you! And I didn’t eat the dinner you made!”

“You were upset,” Garnet shrugged as she scooped the yogurt into two separate bowls. “Normally, I wouldn’t be too happy that you were yelling instead of talking it out, but yesterday was incredibly stressful. For everyone. Also, I don’t want you eating anything with gluten until we have a doctor say you can. Speaking of which,” she poured a good amount of granola into each bowl and placed them onto the table, “I need to call Dr. Maheswaran’s office.” As she left the room to make the phone call, Peridot was still standing on the stairs. “Eat.”

When Garnet left the room, Peridot stared at the table. Ever since she’d woken up around five AM that morning, she thought about how bad she’d been the day before. She waited and waited for Garnet to storm into her room when she heard her wake up about six, yet she never did. Maybe Garnet was waiting for Peridot to wake up before yelling at her. That made sense, so Peridot decided to go downstairs, wincing at how loud the creak of the first stair was. She wasn’t used to the house yet, didn’t know which steps creaked where and back home that step wouldn’t have. When she got down, though, Garnet didn’t say anything except offer her food after having been so bad! It was inconceivable! And wrong! That wasn’t how this was supposed to work! Yet there the bowl sat on the table.

Scurrying over to the table, she pulled herself up into the chair. The house was made specifically for giants, Peridot was beginning to believe. Understandable considering Garnet towered over Peridot. Quickly, she began shoveling food into her mouth, less Garnet come back to take it away. She paused, what if this was a test? What if she _wasn’t_ supposed to eat the food? By now, though, she had already eaten some and she’d learnt from her dad that it didn’t matter whether or not she only messed up part way, the punishment was just as bad. Might as well finish.

The moment of truth came when Garnet came back and the bowl was almost finished.

“Would you like more?” Garnet sounded like she was almost laughing.

Peridot shook her head, but her stomach growled in protest, so Garnet scooped some more yogurt and granola into her bowl anyway. She continued eating.

“I just got off the phone with Dr. Maheswaran,” Garnet began. Peridot looked up to acknowledge her. “You have an appointment with her next Sunday.”

Next Sunday? That was a week away.

“Thank you, but I won’t be going. Could you please cancel?” Peridot tried asking as polite as she could.

“Why would you not be going?”

“My parents say doctors are liars.” Peridot had a hard time justifying what her parents said with the science she learnt from her text books, but, over the years, she learned not to question her parents.

“Peridot,” Garnet’s voice went uncharacteristically soft, “you aren’t going to be with your parents next week.”

Peridot slowly put her spoon down, “Why not?”

“You are going to be staying with me for a little bit, until Pearl can find you somewhere more suitable,” Garnet explained.

A lump began to form in Peridot’s throat, “I’m not going home?”

Garnet shook her head.

“Why?!”

“There are some things parents are expected to do, like feed you and take you to the doctor’s,”  Garnet took a deep breath before continuing. “They aren’t supposed to hit you or make you work.”

“Dad only punishes me when I’ve been bad!” Peridot yelled in protest. “And I know how many hours I’m supposed to work in the store to pull my own weight, that was _my fault_ , and I told Miss Sheena that!”

“Nothing justifies leaving bruises on a child,” Garnet said. “I don’t care what you did, it’s wrong, and I know you don’t believe me right now, but this is for your own good.”

“You said I could go back!” Peridot got out of her chair, beginning to back away from Garnet and towards the stairs. She could feel the tears beginning to well. “Yesterday, you said once Pearl and Miss Sheena checked somethings out, I could go home!”

“I had no right to say that,” Garnet sighed, also standing from her chair. “Peridot-”

“I hate you!” Peridot screamed, tears beginning to fall. “I hate you and I hate Pearl, too! And I really, _really_ hate Miss Sheena! I just want to go home!” She ran up the stairs and into the room, slamming the door behind her before collapsing on her bed in tears.

Garnet sat down at the kitchen table, rubbing at her eyes tiredly. That hadn’t gone well at all.

* * *

 

Garnet didn’t see Peridot the rest of the night. When she knocked on the door, she got a mumbled “go away” and decided to obey it. She didn’t even get a response when she said dinner was ready. That evening, as she was getting ready to go to bed, she opened the door a crack, just to make sure Peridot was still in the room. Thankfully, she was there, sound asleep, but there.

The next morning, Peridot woke her up around five, a full hour before she usually woke up, by knocking on her door.

Garnet opened the door to see Peridot staring at her feet. When she noticed the door was opened, she mumbled, “I have school today, but I don’t have any of my stuff.”

“I was going to tell you yesterday,” Peridot turned bright red at the mere phrase, understanding why Garnet couldn’t, “But you won’t be going to school until we can figure out just where you’ll be going.”

That got Peridot to look up at Garnet, “I might have to switch schools?”

“If we can’t find you a more permanent home here in Beach City, it’s a possibility,” Garnet admitted. There weren’t many foster parents in Beach City and Pearl had asked all but one if they could take Peridot in long term. The odds weren’t looking good for her.

Peridot just sighed and rubbed at her eyes tiredly, “Okay.”

Garnet heard a small sniff. Bending down to be at eye level with the girl, Garnet opened her arms slightly, “C’mere.”

To her shock, Peridot dove into the hug, wrapping her arms around Garnet’s neck and sobbing. Garnet sat down on the floor, holding her in her lap as she cried. The sobbing didn’t last very long, but even when it stopped, Peridot didn’t let go, just curled up on Garnet’s lap leaning against her chest.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” she mumbled.

“I understand why you were upset.”

“…I don’t hate you, or Pearl.”

“What about Miss Sheena?”

Peridot made a face, “I don’t know yet…This _is_ her fault.”

Garnet decided not to correct her for now.

“So, if I’m not going to school, what _am_ I doing today?” Peridot asked.

“Well, I have two lectures today,” Peridot looked at her in confusion. “I work for an online homeschooling program. I give history lectures to high schoolers.”

“That’s so cool,” Peridot’s voice was low in awe, Garnet could practically see stars in her eyes.

“Thank you, no one else seems to think so,” Garnet chuckled.

“Anyone who thinks that is stu-dumb,” Peridot corrected herself. Garnet tried not to laugh at the girl’s almost slip up, obviously having been taught that ‘stupid’ was a bad word. Jasper had had a rather difficult time explaining the certain connotation words had to Amethyst, who had picked up an impressive repertoire of inappropriate words from the numerous cousins and siblings she’d lived with before Jasper, especially for being only seven at the time.

“Do you like history?” Garnet asked.

Peridot weighed the idea in her head. “I like learning,” she decided. “I like math.”

“I never really cared for math,” Garnet admitted. When Peridot went to defend her favorite stomach, however, her stomach began to growl. “I think someone’s hungry.”

“I’m not!” Peridot protested, but her stomach growled again. “…maybe a little bit.”

* * *

 

The rest of the week was practically smooth sailing. During Garnet’s lectures, Peridot sat in the room quietly, listening to everything out of sight of the camera, unless Garnet gave her the signal they created that meant Peridot should leave the room because the thing she was about to talk about wasn’t ‘kid friendly’. She’d only disobeyed the gesture once and Garnet wasn’t happy with her about it. The whole topic went over her head as Garnet intentionally used big words she knew Peridot didn’t understand, but the worst part was when Garnet said she “wasn’t angry, just disappointed”; it was even worse than not being allowed to sit in on the next lecture. Garnet became creative with her vegetables and even made noodles out of potato in order to make gluten free spaghetti without needing to buy a new packet of noodles. In the back of her mind, Peridot knew this wasn’t forever, but neither one of them really talked about it until Pearl showed up the morning of her doctor’s appointment with a woman Peridot didn’t know.

Garnet had given her fifteen minutes to get ready and in ten, Peridot was walking down the stairs in a new t-shirt, new jeans and a new pair of sneakers that Garnet and she bought on Monday with the check Pearl gave them. At the door, though, stood Garnet, Pearl and the new woman. When she saw the new woman, Peridot slowed down to almost a crawl, hesitant to get too close, as if the woman would reach out and snatch her away.

She was a rather terrifying looking lady. Two large buns sat on either side of her head, so tight that it pulled on her skin in a way that looked painful. Her face was pinched into a constantly surly look.

“Peridot,” Pearl’s voice was in that anxious, high tone Peridot was beginning to recognize as appearing when she was nervous, “this is Ms. Agate. She’s thinking about fostering you.”

“Hello,” Peridot said.

“Hm,” Ms. Agate sniffed. “She could use some better manners, it’s polite to greet someone by name, you know.”

Peridot quickly decided she didn’t like this woman one bit and by the look on Garnet’s face, neither did she. However, Pearl quickly decided that Peridot and Ms. Agate should ride together to the doctor’s office in Pearl’s car while Pearl went with Garnet.

Peridot quickly decided she didn’t like Pearl much either.

“You cannot be serious,” Garnet said the second Pearl closed the door to her truck.

“About what?” Pearl’s eyebrows scrunched together.

“That woman!” Garnet exclaimed as they started towards the office. “She’s a nightmare. “She could use some better manners”, _she_ could use some better manners! Peridot’s been through hell this past week, doesn’t she know that?!”

Pearl blinked at Garnet in surprised, “I’ve never seen you so…emotional before.”

“She acted as if Peridot couldn’t hear her! That poor kid, and you stuck her in a car with her!”

“Oh, please, it’s barely a ten minute drive,” Pearl said. “Garnet, the papers are practically signed. If you want Peridot out of your house quickly, she’s going to Ms. Agate. I’ve already spent so much time on her case and Ms. Agate’s the only one willing to take on a kid with a possible chronic illness. I have more kids than just Peridot to think about. Unless…” Pearl stopped talking.

“Unless what?” Garnet finally took the bait.

“Unless you want to take her,” Pearl said slyly. Garnet didn’t respond and Pearl’s eyes went wide. “Are you seriously considering this?”

“Maybe?!” Garnet sighed. “I really shouldn’t…but if I did, she wouldn’t have to switch schools in the middle of the year and I work from home so…plus, I already care about her. Probably more than I should at this point.”

“Well, you need to decide soon, because Ms. Agate’s deciding today,” Pearl said. Looking into the rearview mirror, she scrunched her eyebrows together. “What is going on back there?”

Garnet glanced at the rearview mirror and then back to the road. Then back to the mirror. In the reflection, she could see Ms. Agate and Peridot in what seemed to be a heated argument.

“I’m sure we’ll hear all about it at the doctor’s office,” Garnet pulled into the parking lot. When they parked, Ms. Agate pulled up into the parking spot next to them, dragging Peridot out by her arm. When Peridot saw Garnet, she quickly slipped out of Ms. Agate’s grip.

“Please don’t let her take me, she’s crazy!” Peridot begged, hiding behind Garnet.

“What in the world happened?!” Pearl exclaimed.

“That girl is an utter nightmare!” Ms. Agate exclaimed. “I simply suggested that she’d look better in some girl-ier clothing and a different hair style when she lost her mind!”

“My hair grows like this!” Peridot exclaimed from behind Garnet.

It was true that the girl’s hair was somewhat strange. The sides grew straight, fluffy but straight to the ground, while the top almost tried to disobey gravity by growing straight up and falling in every direction. Garnet and she had talked about getting her hair cut, so she wasn’t sure why Peridot was freaked out by that.

“No one’s hair grows like that, you simply shouldn’t be getting into hairspray,” Ms. Agate seeped condescension.

“Actually, her hair does grow like this.” Garnet corrected.

Ms. Agate shook her head pityingly, “You’ve obviously let her have run of the house this week. No matter, a few days in my home and she’ll be back to the well-mannered little girl you described, Pearl.”

“That well-mannered little girl was being abused,” Garnet hissed angrily. “I hope you aren’t suggesting a similar arrangement.”

“We do have an appointment to get to,” Pearl reminded, chuckling nervously. “If we could just…”

Garnet led Peridot in, keeping an arm around her and an eye on Ms. Agate. There was no way in hell that woman would be leaving with Peridot.

They were admitted from the waiting room into the doctor’s room fairly quickly, the nurse a little surprised by the large entourage for one child. It was a tense and quiet room, Peridot demanding to sit as far away from Ms. Agate as possible and ignoring any further questions the woman had. Garnet paid no heed to her when Ms. Agate complained and Pearl made many notes, most being to talk with the social workers of children Ms. Agate currently housed. When Dr. Maheswaran entered, Ms. Agate was the color of a tomato at the annoyance of being so thoroughly ignored.

“Hello, Peridot,” Dr. Maheswaran greeted. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

“Hello, Dr. Maheswaran.” Peridot leaned into Garnet.

“Would you like to hop up here for me?” Dr. Maheswaran patted the observation bed, causing the paper to crinkle.

Peridot went to get on the bed, but it was too tall for her. “Do you have a step stool?”

Dr. Maheswaran seemed surprised, “Most patients prefer to just climb up. Would you like to do that?”

Peridot just looked at her, “I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?” Dr. Maheswaran seemed intrigued.

“She’s a very stubborn child,” Ms. Agate butted in.

“And who are you?” Dr. Maheswaran asked, annoyed at having to turn her attention away from the child.

“She’s a potential foster parent,” Garnet supplied quickly. “I have actually noticed that Peridot seems to not really jump around as much as other kids her age. I didn’t think much of it, but she doesn’t really like to do much with her left leg.”

Dr. Maheswaran nodded and pulled a step stool from underneath the cupboard, “There you go, Peridot.” She watched as the girl used the step stool. She didn’t use it the way the doctor expected her to, instead using her arms to brace herself as she stepped up using her right leg, barely letting any weight rest on her left. “Does your left leg hurt?”

Peridot shook her head as she lifted herself to sit on the bed, “Not really. I just can’t trust it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, it hurts sometimes, but other times it just doesn’t work right.”

Dr. Maheswaran gestured to her left pant leg, “Can you roll your jeans up for me?”

Peridot obeyed rolling them up to her knee. Near her knee cap was a large cut surrounded by a large area of inflamed red skin.

“What happened here?” Dr. Maheswaran asked.

“It happened a few weeks ago,” Peridot shrugged, then looked over at Garnet. “I didn’t want you to worry.”

“You’re the current foster parent?” Dr. Maheswaran asked Garnet, who nodded. “You didn’t notice?”

“I’ve only had her a week,” Garnet explained.

“Well, I’m surprised you noticed the leg favoring, then,” Dr. Maheswaran admitted. She bent down to look at the cut. When she began pushing and prodding it, puss leaked form the cut, but Peridot didn’t flinch.

“Is that good?” Ms. Agate asked, clearly not seeing Dr. Maheswaran’s alarm.

“No, that’s bad. That’s really, really bad. In fact, I’m going to have to actually ask you to come with me. Quickly. Um, I don’t want her walking on that, uh, Garnet, right?” Garnet nodded. “Carry her and follow me. I’m sorry, but Pearl, you two can’t come. I’ll have Garnet call you when we get to the hospital.”  
“What’s going on?” Ms. Agate demanded. “I thought we just came here to find out if Peridot’s celiac or not.”

Garnet ignored her, instead picking Peridot up and allowing Pearl to deal with Ms. Agate as she followed the doctor. Peridot’s arms were around Garnet’s neck, her legs around her waist, as they rushed down the hallway to the reception area.

“What’s going on?” Peridot asked, confused.

“I’m not sure, but I promise, I’ll be with you the whole time, okay?” Garnet whispered to her.

Peridot nodded, leaning her head against Garnet’s shoulder. The skin-to-skin contact, Garnet noticed Peridot seemed warmer than usual.

“Yes, hello, I’m calling to warn you about a child coming into the ER in a few minutes, it’s urgent.” Dr. Maheswaran said into the phone she’d stolen from a receptionist. “Nine year old female, infection, possibly MRSA, on her lower left leg. Foster kid, just got in a new home, but it’s been there for a while now. No, it’s too late for antibiotics, the kid didn’t even flinch when I touched the sight of infection. All right, okay, yes, I know, we’ll be there in a few minutes.” She hung up the phone. “This way.”

They went downstairs where an ambulance was waiting and the paramedics immediately sprang into action, taking Peridot from Garnet and putting her onto the gurney. Garnet hopped into the back with them while Dr. Maheswaran sat in front with the driver.

The drive to the ER felt like the longest driver Garnet had ever taken, made longer when Peridot’s small hand came through the mess of paramedics for Garnet to hold. When they finally got to the hospital, the paramedics handed the gurney off to the doctors, Dr. Maheswaran running in with them, but, like a bad movie, Garnet was stopped just in front of the swinging doors as Peridot yelled for her.

“I’m sorry, Miss, you can’t go in.” The receptionist actually looked very sorry as she led her to the waiting area. “Is there anything I can get you? Is there someone you need to call?”

“I have a phone, I’m fine, thank you,” Garnet said gruffly. The receptionist still smiled, but left her alone.

Garnet quickly dialed Pearl’s number.

“I’m already on my way to the ER,” Pearl said. “I took your truck, hope you don’t mind.”

“How-You stole my keys.” Garnet suddenly realized. “You need to tell me what you did before you were a social worker.”

“Mm, nope, not gonna happen. Ms. Agate drove herself home. Apparently, Peridot’s a hopeless case, so, I’m sorry, you’re stuck with her now.” Pearl said.

“I do not mind.”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t think anyone really knows right now. It’s an infection, though.”

“She’ll be fine, Garnet.”

“…”

“She will, she’s tough.”

“I care about her. It’s only been a week, but goddammit, I do care.”

“I know. Jasper was the same way with Amethyst. Trauma bonds people, you’ve helped her through a very rough time in her life. Not that she’s over it, at all, but…you’ve helped. Of course you’re going to start to care. People supposedly fall in love with their kids the moment their born, what does it matter you met her a bit late?”  
Garnet laughed a little at that, but it was tense and tired.

Pearl arrived not long after and then began the waiting game. If Garnet thought the first hour was frightening, she was in no way prepared for the fifth. In that time, they got almost no information, even though the rotating receptionists tried their best to get them any. Any doctor assigned to her was too busy to explain anything, other than she was alive. Finally, after eight hours of sitting in the emergency room, Dr. Maheswaran came out.

Garnet immediately sprang out of her chair. “What the hell happened?!”

Dr. Maheswaran sighed, “She did have a very bad MRSA infection, contracted it a few weeks ago. We had to go into surgery. We were going to just cut away the infected flesh, but when we cut some away there was more underneath. We usually ask for permission, but she was already out and it was too risky to wait, we had to do a below the knee amputation of her left leg.”

“Is she okay?” Garnet demanded.

“She’s going to need to be in the hospital for about five more days,” Dr. Maheswaran said. “However, she’s young, she should make a very quick recovery. Other than her missing limb, she’s perfectly fine.” Dr. Maheswaran looked down at the file in her hand. “Well, mostly, she does have celiac disease, but put her on a gluten free diet and she’ll be fine.”

“Thank you so much, Dr. Maheswaran,” Pearl smiled as Garnet could barely speak from her relief.

The doctor invited them into the room where Peridot would be waking up. The moment they sat down, Garnet grabbed Peridot’s hand.

“So, should I put Peridot’s case on the back burner for now?”

Garnet punched Pearl’s arm lightly.

“OW!” Somewhat lightly.

“That was for even suggesting Ms. Agate as my replacement.”

**Author's Note:**

> I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THIS IT WAS SO FUN TO WRITE  
> I might actually continue writing for this universe, it was that much fun  
> PLEASE LEAVE A KUDOS AND A COMMENT PLEASE


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